Nearly 7,000 voter registrations lost in 'malfunction'

A "malfunction" or "software error" in a state Department of Licensing program failed to relay voter registration information for nearly 7,000 people to the Secretary of State's Office, which runs elections.

The data error was discovered in late January. State officials insisted Tuesday that voters will receive their ballots in time for the Feb. 13 election.

"Our office identified nearly 7,000 applicants who need to be added to the voter rolls and issued a ballot," Secretary of State Kim Wyman said in a statement. "We are working closely with county election officials to ensure that these voters receive their February ballot in time for next week's election."

Specifically, the Secretary of State's election division identified 6,969 "impacted voters" across the state.

Washington has a "motor voter" law. When registering to get a state license, citizens can simultaneously register to vote.

Under the system, the Department of Licensing assigned new license numbers to customers who changed their names or addresses, but the information in DOL's system was not transmitted to the Secretary of State's database.

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